Shanghai International Musical Festival kicks off with shows, forums, and contests

Three original Chinese musicals and a musical concert will be held over the following three months, as part of the 5th Shanghai International Musical Festival. The event kicked off at the Shanghai Culture Square this week.

Traditional Chinese cultural elements have been highlighted in some of the musical productions. "Painted Face" (March 10-11) borrowed inspiration from a classic Chinese love story between a fox and a castaway scholar, while "Legend" (April 15-16) is inspired by the Chinese literary classic "Journey to The West."

The concert scheduled on April 5 will present selected songs from a handful of Chinese musicals featuring national customs. The musical "Not to Be" will serve as the festival's closing performance and bring the event to an end (May 11-21).

Ti Gong

Apart from the original musicals, the festival also includes a forum, an original musical cultivation project, and a musical singing contest.

Launched in 2019, the contest aims to discover new voices and promising musical performers from around the country. It has attracted the participation of over 1900 singers over the past four years. Twenty-two top singers from the contest have drawn attention from musical producers to fulfill their stage performing dreams.

Meanwhile, Shanghai Culture Square's Shanghai Musical Culture Research Center is ready for use after three years of planning and construction.

Ti Gong

Located in the Culture Square's underground space, the center will serve as a communication platform for the musical industry and provide space for rehearsals, recording, storage and office use.

Currently, two one-on-one interactive small theater productions – "A Game Of You" and "The Smile Off Your Face" – are being staged in the center.

Created by Belgian avant-garde troupe Ontroerend Goed, the two works will be performed as the center's residency shows over the next four months.